Sandy Hook victims' parents address commission

Updated 10:17 pm, Friday, June 27, 2014

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP Photo/Jessica Hill

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Scott Jackson, Mayor of Hamden and Chair of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, addresses the commission via Skype at the Legislative Office Building, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission has been reviewing current policies and making recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. less

Scott Jackson, Mayor of Hamden and Chair of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, addresses the commission via Skype at the ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP Photo/Jessica Hill

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Scott Jackson, Mayor of Hamden and Chair of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, address the commission via Skype at the Legislative Office Building, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission has been reviewing current policies and making recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. less

Scott Jackson, Mayor of Hamden and Chair of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, address the commission via Skype at the ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP Photo/Jessica Hill

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Christopher Lyddy, former State Rep. for Newtown, listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, address the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission via Skype at the Legislative Office Building, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission has been reviewing current policies and making recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. less

Christopher Lyddy, former State Rep. for Newtown, listens as David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, address the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission via Skype at the Legislative ... more

Photo: Jessica Hill, AP Photo/Jessica Hill

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David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, addresses the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission via Skype at the Legislative Office Building, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. The Sandy Hook Advisory Commission has been reviewing current policies and making recommendations to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. less

David Wheeler, father of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, addresses the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission via Skype at the Legislative Office Building, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. ... more

Speaking by Skype and telephone to the 16-member commission, which is charged with recommending changes in health care and other laws, David Wheeler and Francine Wheeler and Michele Gay said that while they expect the trauma to linger for years, they want to make sure a similar attack can never happen again.

"We know very well that everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone involved in this event, was completely overwhelmed by the scope of this catastrophe, from the immediate minutes following through right now, in many ways," said Wheeler, whose first-grade son Benjamin was among the victims.

Wheeler said the state communicated well with the families, but the schools left a lot to be desired.

"We had no contact, no direct contact from the Board of Ed or the superintendent's office for a week and a half and that contact happened after making some noise about it," Wheeler said in an hour-long Skype video link. "The administration that was put into place in the aftermath, including elite teachers, but primarily administration, did not communicate directly with us about sources available for trauma therapy for the students, for the teachers, or for our son specifically in the school. In fact we didn't know until June of 2013 that a trauma team was in place. To this day, to be honest, we are not completely convinced that the teachers and the staff of Sandy Hook Elementary got what they needed in terms of counseling resources and support."

Wheeler, whose wife Francine sat next to him, said there was no direct liaison between the families of the victims and the town.

"There are many times where we don't know who we should be asking for things and we end up asking two or three people to get an answer for this or to get an answer for that," Wheeler said, noting that there is a new school superintendent in place now. "I suspect that more often than not officials at the town level were hesitant if not afraid to impose or intrude on the victims' families, so no information came over the transom. There was no central clearing house for information for the 40 affected families set up in any way."

Michele Gay, whose 7-year-old daughter, Josephine, was shot in a first-floor lavatory during the attack, spoke to the commission via telephone after her Skype connection failed.

"Every one of us learned hard lessons on December 14," Gay said. "Unless we make changes based upon these lessons we're certain to repeat them in the future. Our schools must be secure at all times."

Wheeler said the best thing that happened was assigning State troopers to every family to help with security after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy informed them hours after the murders that 20 children and six adults were dead.

"I would also like to take a moment and mention the appreciation we have for the kindness and the professionalism and the courtesy shown to the families, to all of us, by Gov. Malloy, from that day and since," Wheeler said. "I knew what he had to do was an impossible task that no public servant should ever be called on to perform and he did it very well."